TOTE TURNOVERS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 3, 5 January 1939, Page 4

TOTE TURNOVERS

Increases Registered At Holiday Meetings FIGURES APPROACH THE MILLION PEAK NOT YET REACHED The holiday racing carnival which concluded yesterday resulted in an aggregate totalisator turnover ot approximately three-quarters of a million at the several racing fixtures held throughout the Dominion, and when to tnis is added the amount passing through the machines at trotting meetings the grand aggregrte is more than a million. Eight major racing fixtures were held in the North Island in the period from December 24 to January 3, these being at Auckland (four days), Manawatu (three days), New Plymouth, Stratford, Marton, Hastings and Tauherenikau (two days each), and Waipukurau (one day), giving a total ot 18 days' racing, in audition to several minor fixtures in the South Island there was a two-day meeting at Dune-1 din and another at Invercargill. ! The individual turnovers at the re- j spective meetings were as follow: — 4

Increases over last year’s figures for the corresponding meetings were registered as follows: Auckland 121,440 10s; Manawatu £21,045; Wairarapa £9540; Stratford £9468 10s; Marto.i £9404; Taranaki £6878; Hawke’s Bay £5502 10s; Dunedin £4799 10s; Waipukurau £2397 10s. Total increase, £92,475 10s. The Auckland Trotting Club’s meeting extended over three days, during which period £189,844 10s was handled, an increase cf £64,184 over the corresponding meeting the previous year, and at the Canterbury Park meeting £89,342 10s was put through for the two days, an incease of £15,529 10s. The aggregate increase in five days of trotting was thus nearly £BO,OOO, and with increases at several minor race meetings the grand aggregate increase in betting turnover was not far short of £200,000. It is when the figures for several, years past are compared with the present-day totals that an indication is provided of the steady advance shown in betting turnovers throughout the Dominion. For the 1932-3 racing season the midsummer turnovers for the nine clubs detailed above aggregated £365,424, only half the amount handled during the recent orresponding period. Interesting also is a comparison of the turnovers of individual clubs during the past seven years, as it shows a /narked increase over the last four years. Here are some of the figures:— Auckland Racing Club

The period under review covers the nadir of the depression, but later figures, in the day of the small bettor, compare very favourably with the

turnovers of the post-war boom, which was the era of hectic speculation. In the 1920-21 season the Auckland Racing Club’s turnover for the four days of the midsummer carnival was £511,455 10s. At the three-day Manai watu meeting the same season the ■ amount handled was £198,056, and at I the Marton two-day meeting £103,166 I passed through the totalisator. The . Wanganui Jockey Club’s autumn meeting two months later saw the sum of £112,601 pass through the machine. Nowadays it is the army of small bettors which is responsible for the swelling totalisator turnovers registered at the recent holiday carnival.

Auckland 319,502 Manawatu - 122,0544 Stratford 56.7264 Wairarapa .... 49,988 Marton 45,663 Taranaki 44,603 Hawke’s Bay ... 28,891 Waipukurau 8,551 Dunedin 44,603

1932- ..... ..... 1933- _ ..... £ 31,199 198,5001 186,893 186,8931 266,134 298,0611 319,502 1938Manawatu Racing Club £ 1932-3 52,130 1933-4 52,140a 1934-5 49,510 1935-6 56,707 1936-7 86,526 1 1937-8 100,509 1938-9 — — 122,0541 Stratford Racing Club £ 1932-3 30,174 1933-4 ...... 29,015 1934-5 28,645 1935-6 ...... 35,663 1936-7 42,2991 1937-8 47,258 1938-9 — 56,7261 Marton Jockey Club £ 1932-3 10,1511 1933-4 18,9611 1934-5 (one day) 15.783 1935-6 ...._ 22,3481 1936-7 ... 27.221 1937-8 36,259 1938-9 ...... 45,663